Teacher Self-Care in Times of Chronic Stress
First Presenter's Institution
Georgia Southern University
First Presenter's Brief Biography
Ms. Angela Landers is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Professional Clinical Supervisor, and Registered Yoga Teacher. She works at Georgia Southern University’s Counseling Center where she provides individual counseling, Mindful Yoga classes, Wellness Retreats, and meditation. Mindfulness is at the forefront of her work, and she is particularly interested in using mindfulness in the professions of counseling and education.
Document Type
Event
Primary Strand
Mindfulness and Wellbeing
Relevance to Primary Strand
This program aims to increase awareness of chronic stress and burnout among school personnel and how they can engage proactively and reactively to those issues.
Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics
Leadership / Development
Brief Program Description
In this workshop, participants will learn about the nature and impact of chronic stress and burnout. Using mindfulness strategies, participants will also learn how to evaluate and implement their personal self-care practices.
Summary
The demands on teachers in the 21st century continue to increase and lead to teacher burnout. The uncertainty and chronic stress of the events since the pandemic have depleted teachers even further, leaving many feeling that their thresholds and limits are already pushed to the max. In this workshop, participants will learn about the nature and impact of chronic stress and how it can escalate into burnout. Using mindfulness strategies, participants will also learn how to evaluate and implement their personal self-care practices and will leave with a personalized and thoughtful self-care plan along with the knowledge of their potential barriers to carrying out this plan.
Evidence
Providing psychoeducation about burnout and self-care to school personnel has shown to be an effective tool in helping staff retention (Iancu et al. 2017). This nuanced training can help move into the true meaning of chronic stress and burnout and avoid stereotypes of luxurious, time-consuming self-care that has no clinical backing of efficacy.
Iancu, A., Rusu, A., Maroiu, C., Pacurar, R., & Maricutoiu, L. (2017). The effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing teacher burnout: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, v30, 373-396.
Learning Objective 1
Participants will be able to identify chronic stress and how it leads to burnout.
Learning Objective 2
Participants will be able to identify their own personal stressors in the workplace and how this increases their risk for burnout.
Learning Objective 3
Participants will be able to create a self-care plan to implement while on and off the job to decrease risk for burnout.
Recommended Citation
Landers, Angela, "Teacher Self-Care in Times of Chronic Stress" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 12.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/12
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Teacher Self-Care in Times of Chronic Stress
The demands on teachers in the 21st century continue to increase and lead to teacher burnout. The uncertainty and chronic stress of the events since the pandemic have depleted teachers even further, leaving many feeling that their thresholds and limits are already pushed to the max. In this workshop, participants will learn about the nature and impact of chronic stress and how it can escalate into burnout. Using mindfulness strategies, participants will also learn how to evaluate and implement their personal self-care practices and will leave with a personalized and thoughtful self-care plan along with the knowledge of their potential barriers to carrying out this plan.
